Pages

Sunday, July 21, 2013

I'm excited to introduce Judy Alter whose ebook, Death Comes Home releases this week. I spent more than an hour on her food blog called Potluck with Judy, reading about genetically altered foods. Now that's something that'll scare your socks off, so let's move on to something more pleasant: do you plot or do you write like a runaway freight train? Here's what Judy has to say:

Pantsers vs. Plotters

by Judy Alter

Writing
habits are individual things. I have long admired people who can plot out each
chapter and each scene before they ever sit down to write. Then they have a
road map to follow. Some leave room for flexibility, for the inevitable changes
that occur when you write, but basically they know where they’re going. And
writing a synopsis? Easy peasy—it’s all there in the outline. Some writers use
storyboards or whiteboards to keep track of scenes and characters as they
write. Or computer programs which allow you to move scenes around and such.

I on
the other hand wander blindly about in a familiar world, since I know the
settings of my series novels, but with little idea of where I’m going. My
publisher now requests a synopsis before accepting a proposal. But recently
after I signed a contract, the manuscript began to take a different direction
and ended up nowhere near what the synopsis had indicated. When I saw this
developing, maybe halfway through, I wrote the managing editor who requested a
new synopsis. Fortunately, it passed muster. There’s been one intervening novel
since, but now I find my mind going back to the original theme of that earlier
project.

The
trouble, you see, is that I’m a pantser. I write by the seat of my pants. I
prefer to dash off a page of rough notes, get the first sentence, and see what
happens when I go from there. Sometimes what happens is magic. Events seem to
unfold of their own accord, characters tell me what’s going to happen, and the
plot shapes itself, often taking turns I hadn’t expected. Many seasoned authors
will tell you to listen to your characters, and they will tell you what’s going
to happen. The late western novelist Elmer Kelton used to talk about two of his
novels in which the characters took over his typewriter or computer. One was Buffalo Soldier, which he intended to
feature a newly freed slave who becomes a buffalo soldier (one of the Negro
regiments on the western frontier). But a Comanche chief kept demanding equal
time, and eventually the book chronicled both their stories—the buffalo
soldier’s rise in life as the Comanche’s way of life disappeared. The other was
The Good Old Boys, which he wrote at
his dying father’s bedside and based on all the stories his father, a longtime
ranch foreman, had told him. The characters, he used to say, took over like a
cold-jawed horse with a bit.

I
don’t find it usually happens that easily, and sometimes I worry about what’s
going to happen next. I also worry a lot if the manuscript is going to reach an
acceptable word limit—I have a tendency to rush through things, so that my
friend and beta reader is always telling me to slow down. He also often tells
me I have too much going on in a book—which I wonder doesn’t spring from my
desperate attempt to pad the length. But once I finish it, I rarely make major
changes, like moving whole sections around, eliminating characters (I rejected
that suggestion recently), and the like.

One
trick that works for me when I settle down to write: set a goal of a thousand
words a day. I wrote a novel that way earlier this year and found it worked
well.

But
everyone has their own methods. What’s yours?

Judy Alter is the author of
two mysteries series—Kelly O’Connell Mysteries, including Skeleton in a Dead Space, No Neighborhood for Old Women, Trouble in a
Big Box, and the just-published Danger
Comes Home, and the Blue Plate Café Mysteries, which debuted this year with
Murder at the Blue Plate Café, with Murder at Tremont House to come next
year. Her books are available on Amazon and Smashwords. Also the author of
several historical novels set in the American West, she is the recipient of
Western Writers of America Owen Wister Award forLifetime Achievement and several other
awards.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

If there's one thing I have trouble with in my writing, it's setting. I have to admit, while reading I often skip lovely, long passages, jump right to the dialogue. Now that I'm beginning to get a little attention from small presses, I've devoted more time to studying how writer's achieve a sense of place. My education comes late. My writer friend and SLR partner Jan Rider Newman has a fine eye for setting and her short stories prove it. Read what Jan has to share about Fitzgerald's setting in The Great Gatsby.

Setting: The Character We Overlook

by Jan Rider Newman

The Great Gatsby, first
published in 1925, has gained renewed attention lately because of the latest
movie remake. F. Scott Fitzgerald fictionalized the North Shore of Long Island
into West Egg and East Egg. Tom and Daisy Buchanan live in more fashionable East
Egg. Gatsby and Nick Carraway, the narrator, live in West Egg.

Setting
and sense of place is so important to a story it can be one of the characters. Consider
Nick Carraway’s descriptions of West and East Egg:

I . . . rented a house . . . on that slender
riotous island which extends itself due east of New York — and where there are
. . . two unusual formations of land . . . [A] pair of enormous eggs, identical
in contour and separated only by a courtesy bay, jut out into the most
domesticated body of salt water in the Western hemisphere, the great wet
barnyard of Long Island Sound. . . .

I lived at West Egg, the — well, the
less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express
the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at
the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between
two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on
my right was a colossal affair by any standard — it was . . . Gatsby’s mansion.
. . . My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been
overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor’s lawn,
and the consoling proximity of millionaires — all for eighty dollars a month.

Across the courtesy bay the white
palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water . . .

Even
if you couldn’t afford one of the “palaces” or a twelve or fifteen thousand
dollar “place,” wouldn’t you really enjoy living in Nick’s little house?

The
home of Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson, provides jolting contrast:

About half way between West Egg and New
York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter
of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a
valley of ashes — a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and
hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys
and rising smoke . . .

Could
anything else offer more contrast or give a better idea of distinctions between
and within classes than the descriptions of where the characters live? Tom and
Daisy inhabit the ultimate circle—old-money fashionable. Gatsby is fabulously
but newly rich, unfashionable in the Buchanan stratosphere. Though not especially
rich, Nick is old-money fashionable and moves within both circles. Myrtle, in
that village of ashes, lives above a garage, is poor and desperate.

Where
is your story set? What does it say about your characters and their society,
their passions and ambitions? If possible, go to your setting or one like it.
What do you see? Don’t judge. Just look. See the people, the buildings, the
sidewalks, streets/roads, animals, trees, and plants. What does the setting say
to you? After you figure that out, ask what the setting says about your story.
How can you condense the relevance of your setting the way Fitzgerald did, so it
practically tells the story for you?

Good
luck!

Jan Rider Newman has published short stories, nonfiction, poetry, and book reviews in competitions and anthologies, print and online literary journals. Her published short stories are collected in A Long Night’s Sing and other stories. She publishes and co-edits Swamp Lily Review, an online literary journal, and is webmaster for the Bayou Writers’ Group. Jan’s current WIP, a novel about the 1755 Acadian exile from Nova Scotia, is close to her heart because many of her ancestors fell victim to it.

Her family, including two granddaughters, makes her world go around. They plus writing, research, genealogy, and photography keep her busy.

A Long Night's Sing and other stories is available for Kindle and POD.

Friday, July 12, 2013

I finally have a release date for The Last Daughter. All I can say is ... don't hold your breath! I don't want any followers passing out on me. The date is December 4th. Seems like a mighty long time to me, but it could work to my advantage. I can order some promo goodies for conferences. Is that done for ebooks? I'm totally uneducated when it comes to promoting my own work--and the manner in which it should be done. I hate watching the time and the calendar, scheduling blog tours and hops and give-aways, etc. {{sigh}} All and any advice will be appreciated.
I do have some good news. I've signed a contract with a small press for a Christmas story. The theme is The Twelve Days of Christmas. My story will take place on December 15th--the tenth day before Christmas. Now don't get confused; that means, my hero and heroine will be living their lives on December 15th and their entire story will take place on that day.

My deadline is September 1st.
My release date is October 1st.

Whirlwind, right? I'm choosing photos for the cover and I don't even have a title yet! Or a completed story! Okay... not much more than a germ of an idea.

How do best selling authors with multiple deadlines do this?

The fun thing is that my Christmas story (about 9,000 words) will be released as a single ebook along with eleven others. And then ... and then ... we'll all be combined into a print book, an anthology. I guess what I'm most excited about is having my name on the cover of a book with multi-award winning writer Kathi Macias. Kathi has authored more than 40 books including those she ghosted.

Whatever made me think I could finish my novel before moving on the 27th? I seem to be running in place--ever so slowly adding to the word count. Seems I'm doing more cutting and editing than actual writing.

Tuesday is another long writing day at the library. I know I'll accomplish something there. Wish me luck, keep fingers crossed for me and/or send prayers. And offer any advice you think I need. My eyes and ears are open!

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Today is IWSG day-the first Wednesday of each month. IWSG stands of Insecure Writers Support Group and was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. You can follow other IWSG members here on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG.Our purpose is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Join us!

So today, my question to you is:
Do you have a writing plan? A marketing plan? A plan for success? Neither do I. Every now and then I jot down goals and things I want to accomplish during a month or week but other than that ... nothing.

However, I did draw up a plan several years ago and set out to accomplish some specific writing goals and guess what, it worked. I started publishing on a regular basis. That's why I believe in The Power of the Made-Up Mind.

Back in November, I was asked to replace a conference speaker at the Bayou Writers Group conference. I had a week to prepare. I can't do much talking or teaching on craft--not confident enough to go there--but I can talk about how to accomplish dreams and goals. I think I've made that a life study. I have a passion for helping people succeed or at least get on the right track. And I know--and believe with all my heart--that any of us can succeed and reach our goals (no matter what they are) if we just make up our mind to do so. We just need a plan and make up our mind to do it. We have to put forth some specific action.

This morning, I read PJ Nunn's blog post called Business or Busyness and I want to share it with you along with a couple of her other posts: Is There a Method to Your Promotional Madness andA Publicist's Day. PJ Nunn owns BreakThrough Promotions. She shares a lot of great tips and advice. These tips are not only workable for your promoting, but adaptable for your writing and selling. No, I'm not suggesting you get a publicist, only you can determine if you need one, but I am suggesting you read these posts, draw up a plan and implement the power of your made up mind. We can accomplish anything if we have a plan and if we work hard enough. Honestly, we can.

Do you agree? Have you put the power of a made up mind into action? Share.

A to Z Challenge

Praise, Prayers and Observations

Women's Fiction Writers Association

I was a TOP 10 FINALIST

CRIMESPACE

Click here to read my daughter.

CREATIVE LANDSLIDE

The books I receive are FREE and they are shipped by the publisher. As a CFBA reviewer, I am required to have an established blog with an active readership, a love for books and a desire to promote Christian fiction. I am permitted to post the standard CFBA post for the book without writing a personal review. Of course it is preferred that I have a personal opinion of the book in the post--sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. My reasons vary. Sometimes I don't like the book as much as I thought I would; other times I may not have received the book in time to read it. I'm always required to participate in the blog tour if I have committed to do so.